Axios

Investment in emerging leagues is driving women's sports to new heights.

Why it matters: Professional leagues drive visibility and investment further down into youth programs that haven't always been accessible to young girls.

• Hockey: Seven months into its launch, the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) is now focusing on finding brand partners to help expand access to the sport. PWHL SVP of business operations Amy Scheer told Axios that the league is working with Scotia Bank to invest more in making hockey accessible to marginalized communities.
• Volleyball: League One Volleyball, a professional women's volleyball league launching in November, has secured distribution rights with ESPN's digital platforms. League One Volleyball has built the largest club youth volleyball business in the country, which it hopes will drive eyeballs and fandom to its professional push, said CEO and co-founder Katlyn Gao.

At least 20 teams are set to play their inaugural season in 2024, from expansion teams like National Women's Soccer League's Bay FC to a host of brand-new teams in the USL Super League, which kicks off its first season on August 17, according to an analysis from Axios' Ashley Mahoney and Simran Parwani.

Between the lines: Women's sports fans have higher engagement rates than men's sports fans, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers research.

Sports media executives are pushing to invest more in women's sports coverage, as a way to better serve and grow their audiences.

• X: The platform is in conversations with sports leagues about producing more docuseries on the platform, CEO Linda Yaccarino told Axios at the Women's Sports House. Gotham FC and U.S. Women's National Team forward Midge Purce, on Axios' stage, teased a new reality docuseries about women's soccer that will live on X. (Full interview.)
• Yahoo: The internet giant has tapped a slew of female Olympians, such as Allyson Felix, Kerri Walsh Jennings, Shawn Johnson East, Missy Franklin and Katie Hoff, to be correspondents for the 2024 games. It plans to increase investments in women's sports fantasy products. (Full interview,)

The women's sports industry is predicted to break the $1 billion barrier for the first time in total revenue this year — a 300% increase from 2021, writes Axios' Analis Bailey.

Why it matters: The main driver of cash coming into women's sports is commercial sponsorships, followed by media rights and matchday revenues (ticket sales), per Deloitte.

• For women's sports, which have historically been undervalued by networks in terms of media rights, sponsorships have proven critical.
• "We have over 100 advertisers across 50 categories putting money into women's sports, not because it's the right thing to do, but because it's good for business," said Disney/ESPN Advertising president Rita Ferro (full interview).

For the first time in Olympic history, The Paris Games this summer will have an equal number of men and women athletes.

Why it matters: Some of the most highly-anticipated events this year feature female athletes from the U.S., such as gymnastics gold medalist Simone Biles, track and field star Sha'Carri Richardson and reigning Olympic swimming champion Katie Ledecky.

By the numbers: NBC, which has exclusive rights to air the games through 2032, has already sold more than $1.2 billion in advertising around the games and expects to bring in more money this year than any other Olympic Games in history.

• "Female athletes in commercials during the last Olympics had a 14% higher brand recognition rate compared to male athletes," said Alison Levin, president of advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal, at the Women's Sports House (full interview).

Flau'jae Johnson's long-awaited collaboration with Lil Wayne will finally drop next Friday.

Why it matters: The LSU women's basketball star pulls double duty as a performing artist, and the collaboration track will be part of her aptly titled EP, "Best of Both Worlds," Axios' Chelsea Brasted writes.

• The project came about after WNBA legend Sue Bird challenged Lil Wayne to reach out to the young rapper and basketball star, Johnson told me in an interview at the Axios Women's Sports House.

The big picture: Since being part of the team that won LSU's first women's basketball national championship, "I've been living the dream," she said.

German sandal maker Birkenstock, a 250-year-old family brand known more for orthopedics than high fashion, has over the past decade become a surprise runway darling, cashed in on viral trends, and accumulated quite a bit of street cred.

Why it matters: Birkenstock's cork-forward footwear has been quietly cool for years. But the newly publicly traded firm has been ditching its crunchy granola reputation and teaming up with high-fashion designers like Rick Owens, Valentino, Proenza Schouler and Dior.

Steep housing costs are putting Gen Z's homeownership dreams on hold.

The big picture: Gen Zers, roughly those aged 12-27, feel deeply pessimistic about the world around them, Axios' Erica Pandey reports.

Two days since the first of two cyberattacks on CDK Global, thousands of car dealerships across the U.S. and Canada remain crippled.

Why it matters: It's the latest incident where an attack on a third-party vendor has sent scores of other businesses into operational chaos.

Catch up fast: CDK is a critical software provider for car dealerships.

• Its dealer management system, used by 15,000 car dealerships in North America, has remained unavailable the past two days.
• Many businesses have reverted to using pen and paper to process auto repairs and new vehicle sales as CDK worked to bring its systems back online, Axios' Rebecca Falconer writes.

The lines between work and time off are blurring with the latest workplace and TikTok trend — "quiet vacationing."

Why it matters: Americans aren't taking all of their PTO and now some are going to extremes to hide their getaways while they work.

Apple won't be rolling out some of its new AI in the European Union this year over concerns regarding the bloc's tech industry regulations, the company announced Friday.

Why it matters: Apple unveiled its new AI system, Apple Intelligence, earlier this month, marking one of the most significant revamps to its products to date.

Institutional Shareholder Services issued an updated recommendation on Vista Outdoor's $1.96 billion deal to sell its ammunition unit to a Czech buyer, saying it now advises investors to abstain on the vote.

Why it matters: ISS' reversal is a blow to Vista Outdoor, as the company is counting on shareholders to approve the deal at a July 2 vote.

Archer Aviation is cooking up plans for an air taxi network that would link five key cities in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Why it matters: If it happens, it could transform commuting in one of the most traffic-choked regions in the U.S., replacing drives of one to two hours with flights of 10 to 20 minutes, the company said.

Robert Winnett will remain at his post as top editor of the Telegraph, instead of joining the Washington Post later this year, the Post's CEO told staffers in a memo Friday.

Why it matters: His decision to stay relieves some pressure from Post CEO Will Lewis, whose decision to name his former colleague Winnett as the Post's next editor, as a part of a broader newsroom restructuring, sparked considerable internal and external scrutiny.

As the S&P 500 hits yet another new record high, all credit must be given to technology stocks — and specifically to Nvidia and the other megacaps that have been driving it higher.

Why it matters: The so-called magnificent seven stocks (Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, Tesla) have accounted for about 75% of this year's gains in the S&P 500, per Counterpoint Global — on top of more than half the gains in 2023.

The gap in homeownership rates between white and Black Americans could widen further in the coming decades, finds a new analysis from the Urban Institute.

Why it matters: The U.S. is at the starting gates of The Great Wealth Transfer — in which the boomer generation will pass down an estimated $84 trillion between now and 2045 — but only a small share of families will get a sizable inheritance.

Taylor, a pretty community to Austin's northeast, is about to go very big.

Why it matters: The pending opening of a $17 billion Samsung computer chip factory has thrust this Williamson County town, with its rutted roads and stately, semi-occupied old brick Main Street buildings, into a role as a key player in world geopolitics.

There's an "unprecedented" scramble underway to find defense industry workers, per a new FT report and survey of nearly two dozen U.S. and European companies in the sector.

Why it matters: Russia's invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago coupled with evolving geopolitical risk have pushed global military spending to new highs.

Auto retailers across the U.S. and Canada face potentially days of outages due to back-to-back cyberattacks this week on CDK Global, a software provider with 15,000 car dealerships in North America, per Automotive News.

Why it matters: Cybersecurity breaches have a domino effect, as hundreds of organizations this year faced service disruptions due to a singular attack on a third-party vendor, Axios Codebook author Sam Sabin notes.

President Biden's political operation raised $85 million into its various accounts in May, ending the month with $212 million cash on hand, the campaign announced.

Why it matters: Biden's May fundraising totals were significantly less than the $141 million the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee said they raised in May.

William Lewis, publisher of The Washington Post, and Emma Tucker, editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal — two British leaders pushing radical changes at two revered American media brands — are getting pelted with criticism and constant leaks by their staffs.

• The gripes: The execs are moving too fast, too bluntly, too haphazardly to change their storied newspapers, knowing little about how U.S. media really works. Media writers lap it up: It's a juicy story. Deep down, they — like other reporters — fear they could be next.

If you're planning to travel during the Fourth of July holiday, be prepared for traffic congestion and delays.

The big picture: Nearly 71 million people are expected to travel during the holiday week, the AAA said on Thursday.